Wison was a stellar corner in college he's just adjusted it to the safety position. I agree with that. He great against slot receivers but sometimes struggles against TE's.

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This is not unique among safeties. When safeties average around 220, 6'2" and TEs average 260#, 6'5" you're going to have a mismatch. LBs should cover TE's close to the line. TEs that can break it downfield usually catch a bunch of passes no matter who is covering them.

This is not unique among safeties. When safeties average around 220, 6'2" and TEs average 260#, 6'5" you're going to have a mismatch. LBs should cover TE's close to the line. TEs that can break it downfield usually catch a bunch of passes no matter who is covering them.

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I understand that but the thing is Wilson gets beat by the bigger name guys like Gates and Crumpler more than the regular TE's.

I just hope he has a better year with Rodney coming in at some point to stiffen his concentration against WRs and TEs. ONLY 22 days until training camp opens and this dreadfully long off season ends!!!!

Brady does have a better touch on the ball then Manning. Manning has one style of delivery that he really likes to use.

I think that Wilson, after last season, is not the best that the league has to offer at 'cover' safety, he is a little small and he is probably no better than Ed Reed, who obviously gets a lot more attention in most rankings. But he is close enough that a ranking can mention him without controversy. After all, when are these rankings ever 100% accurate?

This is not unique among safeties. When safeties average around 220, 6'2" and TEs average 260#, 6'5" you're going to have a mismatch. LBs should cover TE's close to the line. TEs that can break it downfield usually catch a bunch of passes no matter who is covering them.

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IMHO the pass to the TE is underutilized as an nfl play. theere's almost always a mismatch when the TE's covered by a DB. 2 issues: one: these days LBs are so dang fast that TEs can't get separation. two: throwing up the middle of the field is risky for receivers, and for interceptions. in patriots D, bruschi hangs out and ballhawks passes up the middle.
wilson was drafted as a first-rate cover guy. he IS small for a safety. it's OK when he's standing next to rodney, or some other hard-hitting safety. but when wilson's got to be the first hitter he's out of his element.

I understand that but the thing is Wilson gets beat by the bigger name guys like Gates and Crumpler more than the regular TE's.

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Everybody gets beat by those guys. am i missing your point? They are two of the best at their position. Nothing wrong with getting beat by the best 1 on 1, that is why all teams work together to stop these guys.

As I said in the Ty Law post - although there are some concerns to Ty Law's age and mileage - if he's willing to switch to Safety if and when that time comes, I would sign him to a reasonable contract.

Part of my confidence in doing so is my belief that Wilson could now play CB at a very high level - and this rating of him as a cover safey tells me I'm not alone in that.

What is a cover safety but a CB who plays facing the ball? I think Wilson would do just as well with his back to the ball, allowing Law to regain that lost step (if he does lose it) by playing facing the ball.

As far as Wilson not playing TEs well, by nature a S is playing back and is there to cover TEs who go deeper or get away from the LBs - so if a TE has the ball by the time he gets to a S, he's already gained a good amount of yardage.

If Wilson is missing the tackle at that point then that's one thing but ultimately the nature of the safetly position is to cover deep and come in for support on the shorter plays, as long as they are not in a blitz mode

If you look at Wilson in 2004, you see a true center fielder with tremendous range. But he also lined up a good ways off the LOS at was responsible for the both halves of the field.

By the middle part of 2005 until the end of the season, I saw a FS that was much closer to the LOS and it seemed that his responsibilities were contained to just half a field. That really allowed the opposing teams to throw away from him or expose him on dig and out routes.

In 2005 Wilson was my second biggest Patriot disappointment (Neal). However you can't ignore the fact that the instability at SS affected his responsibilities which affected his ability to make plays.

If Rodney comes back at full strength, then Wilson's game will come back. If the Pats are forced to rush the development of Sanders this coming year (who could be primed for a year 2 leap), then Wilson's game will continue to suffer.

He can be pretty good as a cover safety, but he surely shares some responsibility for the blown assignments last year?
Ochmed's point is a very good one, though, in that lack of stability as SS didn't help.

Geno can play very very good with Harrison back, but eventually he'll need to take the responsibilities of a DB captain if he is going to be our guy in the secondary for the future. Maybe a few more years with Harrison under his belt, it will help a LOT.